


Shed, Bath, and Beyond

by ItsaVikingThing, Writerleft



Series: Comes Marching Home [34]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Domestic, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsaVikingThing/pseuds/ItsaVikingThing, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerleft/pseuds/Writerleft
Summary: Asami loves having Korra in her life.Asami loves having Naga in her life.The quarter inch layer of Naga fur covering everything? That needs to change.Today.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Series: Comes Marching Home [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/593860
Comments: 52
Kudos: 259





	Shed, Bath, and Beyond

A heavy sprinkling of fresh white covered the world, like a calm morning after a light winter storm. Unfortunately, winter was long past, and what was covering Asami’s world came from a certain massive polar bear dog shedding her winter coat. 

The summer snow was getting thicker each day, and Asami couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Korra!” She snatched up a handful of hair from the closest nearby surface--probably a dining table existed beneath the mound of fur. “I can’t live like this!” 

“Huh?” Korra walked into what Asami was fairly sure was their living room, blinking over the top of a steaming mug of coffee. “What’s up?”

“ _ This _ .” Asami plucked a strand of fur from the rim of the mug, waving it in front of Korra. “Naga’s fur is everywhere! The floor, the bed… the bathroom drains are clogged. I think it’s in my lungs, Korra.  _ My lungs. _ ” 

“There’s no hair in your lungs, Sparks,” Korra said, eyeing their apartment. “But yeah, I guess we could sweep or something--”

“Sweep?!” Asami sputtered. “ _ Sweep _ , she says. Perhaps rake? Shovel? I’ve been developing a motorized snowplow that may do the trick.” 

“Well, if you think you could get it through the door, I suppose we could try--”

“ _ Korra _ .”

“Fine, fine! I guess it’s been a while since I gave Naga a… uh, you know. B-word.”

“A ba--”

Korra suddenly dove at her, slapping her hand over Asami’s mouth. She whispered, “B-A-T-H, yes. Spirits woman, don’t say it where she can hear.” 

The two turned to look at the white mound panting by the balcony door. Naga blinked at them for a prolonged moment, then scratched herself behind the ear, sending off another blizzard of fur. 

“Mphm?” Asami said, raising an eyebrow at Korra.

“Right. She’s a little sensitive about these things, so we need to be careful.”

Asami raised her other eyebrow. “ _ Mphm _ .”

“Oh!” Korra snatched her hand away from Asami’s mouth. “Right, yeah. Sorry! At least we know you didn’t get any fur in your mouth that time, haha!”

Asami lowered her eyebrows, angling them precisely enough to immediately kill Korra’s attempt at a smile.

Korra cleared her throat. “Hey, Naga, girl! Wanna go for walkies?”

Naga immediately bound to her feet, her tail whipping around and knocking over a lamp as she spun in an excited circle in a space never meant for a creature her size. She kicked up a flurry of fur as she spun, only slightly mitigated by her excited slobber clumping bits of it together. 

Asami shimmied past Naga to set the lamp upright. “You can say walk, but I can’t say B-A-T-H.”

“It’s worse,” Korra said. “Trust me, it’s worse.” 

With the current state of their apartment, Asami wasn’t sure how much worse it could get. Considering the half ton of muscle, hair and drool that was Naga, Asami decided it was probably better not risking finding out.

“So… what’s the procedure here?” Asami walked to the closet, carefully kicking up clouds of fur so she didn’t accidentally tread on any of Naga’s paws. “How do we do this?”

“We?” Korra winced when Asami shot her a quick glare. “Uh, I mean… it’s usually just me and Naga for ba--ah, special walkies time.”

“Well…” Asami pulled a jacket from the closet, tutting at the irregular white pinstripe it had gained seemingly overnight. “Maybe it’s about time you and Naga had some supervision. I’m sure we’ll be able to make this a smooth, simple process. One Naga will come to enjoy, even, and that way we won’t be faced with a situation like this again.”

Korra shrugged. “Sounds great if we can manage it. Can you harness her up, I’ll get the supplies?” 

“Of course. And some treats for her? To reinforce her good behavior?” 

“Sure.” Was that a hint of skepticism in Korra’s voice? No, couldn’t be. 

Before much longer, they’d taken the service elevator down and were out on the street. “Where to?” asked Asami. “Naga’s park on the roof? Your park?” 

“The river,” Korra said. “We’re gonna need fresh, moving water, and a lot of it. Also last time I tried this in a park I got arrested.” 

Asami snickered. “I swear, the number of very specific laws this city is going to have because of you and Naga here…” 

“How was I supposed to know the Fire Nation ambassador’s family were in the park that day?” Korra groaned. “Or what allergies they had.”

As if to punctuate the point, a passing pedestrian sneezed, glaring at Naga as he rushed past her. Naga, for her part, tugged gently on her leash--which yanked Korra off her feet and forced her to skip alongside. “Alright, girl! Let’s go this way!” 

It was debatable as to who was leading who, but somehow Korra and Naga ended up moving in the direction of the river. The faster they walked, the more fur wafted off of her--but it’s not like her dress wasn’t already more white than black-and-red anyhow. “So what exactly is the plan here?”

Korra blinked at her. “Uh… you know. Lots of moving water and a little soap?”

“That’s not a plan, Korra.”

“I didn’t think b-words needed much planning?”

“Clearly,” Asami grumbled. “Okay. We’re going to need tools. If this is anything like maintaining an ostrich-horse--”

“Ostrich-horse?” Korra looked at Naga as if inspecting her for feathers. 

“Any large animal that needs cleaning! There’s a whole industry of brushes, soaps, claw-picks, beak buffers--”

“I’m fairly sure Naga doesn’t need her beak buffed,” Korra laughed. 

Naga panted happily at being the center of attention. She gave Asami a friendly bump with her shoulder, sending her staggering off the sidewalk. Korra’s arm darted out, snagging her waist before she stepped off the curb. 

Asami still wasn’t beyond a slight blush at unexpected intimacy, but decided to play it cool. “Ah… well, no. Though maybe there are… nose shiners?” Asami frowned in thought, rubbing her hip. “That’s beside the point, though! We’re going to do this properly, which means we need supplies. A brush, at the very least. Though maybe a nice shampoo--”

“We’re not getting shampoo,” Korra interjected, “not unless it comes in industrial sized tubs. Besides, last time I tried to use soap Naga smelled like blubber for a month.” 

“I’m assuming you used blubber-based soap.” 

“What else would we make soap out of? Besides, it’s not like polar bear dogs soap up in nature.” 

“They don’t live in hot temperatures and sooty environments in nature, either.” 

“Well, do  _ you _ know what your shampoo would do to her skin?”

She hated to admit that she did not. And so she changed the subject. “Some sort of soap at least… Tell you what, Korra. What part of the river are you heading toward?” 

“Um… just upstream of where the local drainage enters the bay. Water’s clean but moving reasonably enough we won’t have a fur island. Why? Are you going somewhere?”

“I think I’ll make a quick stop and catch up with you.” Asami cracked her knuckles. “Don’t start without me!”

* * *

Thirty minutes later Asami was asking herself why she’d bothered to arrange a meeting place when all she needed to track down Korra was to follow the trail of fur floating in the air and clumping in the gutters.

She found them by the riverbank, any suspicions of Naga’s clearly assuaged by the game of fetch they were playing with a railroad tie they must have found. Korra’s airbending and Naga’s enthusiastic pursuit of what was, essentially, a deadly missile had gathered a small crowd of curious onlookers.

Asami usually preferred to test out new processes in a closed environment, but she wasn’t about to complain about the watchers today. Particularly since she’d brought a few people with her.

Korra waved cheerily when she caught sight of Asami, though her grin slipped when she took in Asami’s new entourage. “Uh… what’s going on? You said you were making a quick stop, and now you have… an army?”

“Five people aren’t an army, Korra. Don’t be silly. That’s barely even a full-strength squad.”

“Right, no, my mistake…” Korra muttered, gaping at Asami’s helpers as they began to deposit various boxes, bottles, buckets, blankets, and brushes on a clear patch of ground. “I guess I overreacted?” It was more a plea for explanation than an apology. 

“Well I couldn’t carry all these supplies myself,” Asami said. 

“Right… a broom, though?” 

Asami smirked, twirling the stiff-bristled push broom in her hands as if it were a very unbalanced bo staff. “Call it a hunch.” 

Behind her, most of her cohort of helpers sorted through the supplies, though Mz. Apple-Blossom of the Republic City Post busied herself with finding good angles for her photographer. How often did a reporter get an Avatar-and-Sato related scoop where they weren’t chased off immediately? 

Korra regarded the reporter warily, but followed Asami’s lead. “Okay then, what’s the plan, squad-leader Sato?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Asami said. She smirked at Korra, just to enjoy her blush. “I’ve collected samples of every commercially available shampoo for every known furry mammal and mammal-adjacent animal. We also have copious quantities of discarded fur for testing purposes, so with a little bit of hard work and rigorous methodology, I think we should find something safe and suitable for Naga.”

“We?” 

“Yes. You, and I, and these kind folks from Merry Miyuki’s Pet Care.” She stepped closer to Korra, taking her hand, and in a husky whisper, added, “plus, you’ve been complaining about no income of your own, so they’re not only doing this for free but they’re giving Naga a sponsorship. You, my dear, have a little bit of income now.” 

Korra pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. “Naga does at least. Maybe she’ll loan me some cash now and then?” 

Naga came bounding up to them, tail wagging furiously. She deposited the railroad tie at Korra’s feet and greeted Asami with a cheerful bark.

“I think you could probably talk her into it,” Asami said, laughing.

Korra rubbed the back of her neck, looking down. “Y’know, I was pretty proud I found something to play fetch with. I was feeling accomplished about my last half hour, but you…” She looked up, smiling shyly. “Wow.”

Asami shrugged. “This was just business. This was the easy part. The primary goal is still giving Naga her bath.” 

She had just enough time to register the panic in Korra’s eyes before Naga let out a roar and then the ground was rising up to meet Asami and all she could see in the morning was a blizzard of white.

* * *

After one of the most blood-pumping, desperate melees of her life, finally, Asami had a moment to catch her breath as Korra stood triumphant astride her defeated foe. “You were right, Asami!” Korra said, rubbing the push broom along Naga’s upturned belly. “She loves it!” 

Asami leaned forward, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Her hair was pasted to her forehead with Naga slobber and her own sweat. One of her helpers stood 30 feet away, watching Naga like a bomb; another was hiding behind a tree, and the third was nowhere to be seen. Clawmarks and earthbending barriers had scarred the riverfront park, and just as the quiet started to settle in, a mild gust of wind sent the top half of a tree crashing into the river. “I’m… so… glad.”

Naga chuffed, wriggling around on her back to give Korra access to more of her stomach. It was cute: an unstoppable and adorable force of nature from the South Pole, and Naga. A perfect photo op for their sponsorship that definitely wouldn’t cover the damage to this park. Unfortunately, the photographer was busy taking pictures of the various boxes, bottles, buckets, blankets, and brushes that had been trampled, tossed, and torn.

At least Merry Miyuki’s logo was getting a lot of coverage. 

“I think we should probably stick with soap this time,” Korra continued cheerfully, “but I think it might be good to try shampoo next time. I can smell some on one of her paws, and it’s nice! You were right about that, too!”

“Uh huh,” Asami said, straightening and approaching her girls. The top half of her right pant leg hung loose where it had been torn in the chase. She adjusted her coat, wincing when a tearing sound told her that the back had split. “Next time…”

“I mean, Naga can grow a new undercoat in a month or so, and like you said, it IS way hotter here than where she grew up.” Korra took a step forward, rubbing the broom up between Naga’s forelegs. “You still want a fur-free apartment, right?” 

“Oh… yes, the apartment…” Asami rubbed her brow, absently flicking away a glob of Naga drool. “Which we’ll need to clean. After we finish Naga’s… B-A-T-H.”

“Yeeeeah, that part won’t be too bad now. She’s got it out of her system. Haven’t you, girl? You like the bathy-broom, don’t you?”

Naga barked agreeably, her tail sweeping an inexplicable shoe aside. Asami supposed it must have belonged to one of the people watching the game of fetch earlier. The shoe is the only sign that any of them were ever there. She was reasonably certain no one had been eaten in the melee, but had to admit she’d lost track of things when Korra had started airbending.

“Yeah,” Korra said, “this is definitely going smoother than usual! Bathy-broom, bathy-broom, if I say it enough it won’t make you zoom...”

“Or make public parks go ‘boom’?” Asami asked. 

“Heh. That too!”

They locked eyes, Asami leaning against Naga’s damp side as Korra mindlessly kept brushing away. 

This whole escapade had been… more involved and borderline disastrous than most people could bear. But Korra… Korra made it all worthwhile. 

“You’re beautiful,” Korra said. “Though you do look a little... mussed.”

“Mussed.”

“Mmhm.”

Asami opened her mouth, ready to contest that word choice, but instead she chuckled. “Flatterer. Okay, let’s wrangle this beast then.”

Korra flashed her a smile, but shook her head. “How about you send your squad marching home, maybe schmooze the newsie over there, and I’ll take care of this mess. And then…”

“Then?”

Korra nodded, lowering her eyelids just-so, in a way that Asami prayed the photographer missed. Or else they were sure to make the society pages. “I think it might be time to take you home and give you a B-A-T-H myself.” 

Asami at least had the presence of mind to put her back to the photographer before she replied. “I think that sounds like an excellent plan. Just, ah...leave the broom.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Neither of us is dead!


End file.
